What are the most affordable cities to study in?

Jul 19, 2017

The NatWest Student Living Index is a survey of over 3,000 university students. It looks at the income, money management and spending of students in 35 different university cities.

Of the cities the survey looked at, Cardiff was the most affordable, followed by Aberdeen and Durham. Glasgow, London and St. Andrews came at the other end of the scale, with students in London paying £140 more than average for rent.

After rent, the biggest costs were food and other essentials, household bills, eating out and alcohol. The survey also reveals that managing your money can be harder than you expect: 65% of students said that they tried to budget, but less than half of those managed to stick to their budget. Building a budget and using a few simple tricks to manage your spending can make managing your money much simpler, however expensive the city you live in.

The difference may not make much difference to decisions about where to study: just 3% of the students surveyed said they chose their university based on the cost of living, compared to 51% who chose based on their subject and 24% based on the university's reputation. But the full results, which explore costs from study materials to socialising and look at where students get their money from, could help you to prepare for university more effectively.